This is a well-written biography of King Louis XIV of France. The book opens with a summary of his parents, Louis XIII and Anne of Austria. Louis XIII was a mere teenager at his wedding; Anne just eleven. It was common place for nobles to marry this young during the 1600s, which seems inconceivable from a twenty-first century perspective.

Louis XIII died when his son was seven, leaving Anne to rule France as regent.

Louis XIV was crowned king of France at the age of thirteen. It seems incredible that one so young should be given so much power. This perhaps was the first contributing factor to turning him into a man who instigated many cruelties to his subjects.

What Louis did to Frenchmen of the Protestant faith competes with what Hitler did to the Jews. He wanted France to be populated by Catholics only. Any Protestant who refused to convert would be assaulted by soldiers without mercy or even killed. This extended to young children, though many children were torn from the homes and forced to live with adult Catholics, who'd force them to adapt to their faith.

Louis was power-obsessed. At one point he declared war on the Dutch with no apparent reason. Many of his actions shocked the rest of Europe in the latter half of the 1600s and the early 1700s.

Louis was also fickle regarding women. He would flirt with his favourite mistresses without a thought for the queen. When a new young beauty caught his eye he'd focus his attentions on her, not caring how he mentally tortured his previous 'favourite'. Again and again his treatment of women proved heartless.

As John Abbott - the author of this fine work - points out in the brief intro, Louis XIV's actions and cruelties to his subjects sewed the seeds of the French Revolution. Many of the poor starved so Louis could live in luxury and spend endless amounts of the treasury on creating new buildings.

Despite all Louis XIV's faults, he was an interesting - and at times fascinating - character. I recommend this work to anyone interested in French or European history, or to those interested in historical figures who made a huge impact on the world, be it good or bad. ( )